


peace. (tyunning)

by pvmpkin



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Adorable Huening Kai, Comfort, Crack, Cute Huening Kai, Eventual Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Kang Taehyun is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Soft Huening Kai, Soft Kang Taehyun, Sweetheart Huening Kai, Whipped Huening Kai, Whipped Kang Taehyun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:00:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27621050
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pvmpkin/pseuds/pvmpkin
Summary: “This is the ‘The world may be against me but idc as long as I have you n I feel peaceful in your arms’ hug” - centerhyuka on twitter
Relationships: Huening Kai & Kang Taehyun, Huening Kai/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	1. Leaving

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cattleya878](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cattleya878/gifts).



> will include lots of swearing n fluff, comfort. it’s not intended to be that funny but it might be funny anyway at points cos that’s just me being a natural born comedian as usual
> 
> if taehyun is insulting himself at any point then it’s probably me venting @ my own dumbfuckery for writing this and not saving and losing the whole thing and therefore having to write it for a 2nd time
> 
> if u don’t get what’s going on then don’t worry cos neither do i really im just making it up as i go along
> 
> writing this for rana. rana enjoy bub ily mwah lots of kithies n cuddles for you 💖💞💞💖💖💘💗❣️💖💘💖💕💘💗💘
> 
> do enjoy ! ♡

Maybe running away wasn’t such a genius idea, Taehyun thought.

Well, he didn’t blame himself. He was sick of parents, sick of work, sick of life in general.

Everything just _sucked._

Maybe, just maybe, you should’ve thought this through, though, he thought. For all your genius you should’ve gathered at least two of those braincells and planned where to go or something.

Taehyun, he mentally scolded himself, you absolute non-genius, you brainless ass, you dumb fuck, why didn’t you take some money? Why didn’t you take your phone? And _why_ didn’t you just think it through, y’know, like you usually overthink everything?

Approximately the one (1) and only thing that had actually gone well was the note.

Ah yes, the note he’d left for his parents. He smiled as he recalled what he wrote in a rush to go.

**ayo im going cos you ~~oviosly~~ ~~obvoius~~ OBVS dont want me here ** **so like enjoy the lack of iq in the house that will folow me leaving and if smth happens to me i blame both of u**

**also leave me alone dont follow not tht u will cos u clearly dont care lolz**

**see u never fuck you 🖕**

**taehyun**

Beautiful. Written in around 20 seconds and yet with the flair of a true author, Taehyun thought.

The smug smile of self satisfaction somewhat faded when he realises that he hadn’t been paying attention to where he was going and was now lost.

Oh.

Well, you’ve really done it now, haven’t you, Kang?

Oh, you fucking _DUMBASS._

The ONE thing you had on your side, knowing roughly where you were. And now you’re lost.

Well, there isn’t much I can do, he thought, other than keep walking until you get somewhere.

So he kept walking.

He got tired and bored and frankly _pissed_ after around an hour. He had thought he’d recognise something along the way but everything just looked the _same._ Why the hell did they make all buildings look the exact same? How was he meant to know where he is if everything was the exact duplicate of where he’d just been?

Man, even the sidewalk looked the same as it had 10 metres ago.

Had he actually been paying attention rather than thinking about how dumb he was, he would’ve seen how all the buildings seemed to stop at a point, as if hesitant of an invisible barrier. Just a transparent wall where the buildings simply ended.

If Taehyun had bothered to stay focused when walking, he would’ve noticed how there were literally no people in this area, how barren it was, how it was just green grass and trees.

But Taehyun was, of course, not paying a shred of attention to his environment, and didn’t even notice that he was walking into a literal forest until he walked straight into a tree.

He made a noise somewhere between a shriek from a bird that hadn’t sung in 50 years and a strangled cough from someone choking on food, and fell straight to the floor.

Great. Now his nose was bleeding, he’d hurt his forehead and, more importantly, had made himself look a complete fool. In front of absolutely no one, but that wasn’t the point.

”Are you okay?”

_Oh._


	2. Woodland Elf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for clarification Taehyun’s hair is red in this fic cos cherry tyun superior
> 
> also sorry that things are moving so damn fast but i ain’t waiting 5 chapters to actually write smth interesting so y’know hope that what ive written makes sense

His face reddened. God, you must look an _idiot,_ Kang. Your hair’s no doubt a scrappy mess, your nose is bloody and you’re blushing like hell, and because what? Cos you walked into a fucking tree.

He looked up.

A boy stood there, his hand outstretched, waiting to give Taehyun a hand to help him up, gazing down at him kindly, although Taehyun’s gaze was a little blurred and he couldn’t really make out the boy’s features.

Taehyun, now in full embarassed mode, grabbed the boy’s hand a little too quickly and let the boy pull him up like he weighed nothing.

He wobbled a bit and the boy gently held his arm to steady him. Taehyun rubbed his eyes and blinked them into focus.

He took a moment to examine the other boy more closely.

And his breath got caught in his throat.

The boy opposite him, whoever he was, was God’s favourite, for sure.

He was tall, at least a head taller than Taehyun, and yet he looked a few months younger than him.

He had the most striking eyes. That was the first thing that Taehyun noticed. They were quite the most beautiful sky blue, yet even lighter than the sky. Pale yet full of colour. They were pierced with streaks and swirls of gold and orange, like flames alight on the surface of water.

He had waves of honey blond hair falling to below his ears, resting just above his shoulders, with small, precise little braids running through the curls and little flowers and petals intertwined prettily throughout. He had a scattering of freckles dotted across his slightly chiselled nose.

He wore a dark green silk robe sort of thing that went from one shoulder to his knees - Taehyun didn’t really know what it was, but it looked like nothing he’d ever seen before. Whatever it was though, he had to admit that it looked like a personal handmade gift from the gods.

The only thing that the boy wore along with the robe was a sort of dark green shawl wrapped over his shoulders. It was thick and covered his back completely.

The boy cocked his head to one side a little and Taehyun realised that he was staring, and hadn’t answered his question.

“Yes.” he said quickly. “I’m ok. Thanks.”

The boy nodded.

“You seem lost.” the boy remarked.

Taehyun noticed that the boy seemed to not be very familiar with the language. It was clear in the way he spoke the words in such a soft, questioning tone, and seemed to chew them in his mouth before saying them.

Before Taehyun could answer, the boy spoke again, which was perhaps a blessing as no doubt whatever would have come out of Taehyun’s mouth would be a mess of gay panic.

“And you never told me your name.” the boy said quietly.

Taehyun was mortified. You stare at the poor kid for at least a solid _minute_ and then you don’t even say hi or tell him your name?

You need to socialise more, Taehyun.

“I’m Taehyun - Kang Taehyun. You?”

“I’m Huening Kai. But the animals, they call me Kamal.” The boy smiled then, and Taehyun was entranced to the point where he completely ignored what the other had just said. He adored the way his eyes crinkled into sparkling crescents, the way his mouth curved into a heart shape, the way he seemed to genuinely mean it when he smiled. He definitely wasn’t a fake smiler, this Huening Kai, and Taehyun liked that.

No one had ever smiled at him before and meant it.

“They call me Kamal as it’s my middle name. It’s an Arabic name. It means-”

“Perfection.” Taehyun blurted. The boy looked at him.

“Sorry. Sorry, I just... know things about.. stuff-” Taehyun stopped himself. Good god, just stop speaking at this point. You’re only embarrassing yourself.

Huening Kai - Kamal? - smiled again slightly, a little curve of his lips.

“It’s okay.”

Very much in full-on simp mode for this strange boy, Taehyun spoke again, trying to sound nonchalant and cool but sounding rather more like someone attempting to speak whilst in a chokehold.

“So what do you want me to call you?”

The boy thought.

“You can call me Kamal too. Like the animals do. You remind me a bit of a squirrel I know, actually. His name is Tyunie. You have similar names. He really is quite a lot like you, now that I think about it. He talks like you.”

Taehyun raised an eyebrow.

“You say that like animals can speak.”

Kamal’s head tilted a little.

“They can.”

Taehyun wasn’t even surprised. Anything could happen, at this point. God himself could descend from the heavens right now and shake his hand and he wouldn’t even bat an eyelid.

“Right.” was all he said.

“You don’t believe me?” Kamal questioned.

“To be honest with you, Kamal-” Taehyun had to admit that he loved the way the name sounded, “- I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. I did not expect to run away from home, get lost in a forest cos apparently I’m stupid, run into a goddamn tree, and then come across a random kid, so if animals can speak, I’m good with that.”

“Random kid?” Kamal arched a thin eyebrow.

“Isn’t that what you are?”

“No.” Kamal laughed and Taehyun felt vaguely dumb, although he didn’t know why.

“I’m no random kid.”

It was Taehyun’s turn to laugh now.

“What are you, then? A fairy?” he joked.

“No.” Kamal seemed to take him seriously. “Fairies are much smaller than us.”

“Fairies don’t _exist._ ”

Kamal raised both of his eyebrows this time.

“Is that what you believe, Kang Taehyun?”

“It’s not a matter of _belief,_ it’s a matter of _fact_ _._ ” Taehyun spluttered. “Everyone knows that fairies aren’t real.”

“Who is everyone?” Kamal challenged quietly.

Taehyun opened his mouth and closed it again. He didn’t even see the point in continuing this conversation - it was clear that this Kamal didn’t know what he was talking about.

Kamal seemed to be deep in thought for a second, and worry momentarily flashed across his face before shaking his head.

“No, I cant..” he muttered.

“Can’t what?” Taehyun asked.

Kamal looked at him, and stared him in the eyes. Taehyun tried to break the gaze but couldn’t tear his eyes away.

“Do you want proof?” the younger boy asked quietly.

“Of what?”

“Of fairies.”

Taehyun scoffed. He didn’t know where this confidence was coming from but he suddenly felt like challenging everyone and everything. “I’m afraid that you can’t, Kamal. What are you gonna give me proof of? A few little sparkles of glitter?”

He snorted, but the laugh along with the smirk immediately died away when Kamal’s eyes momentarily flashed with anger, and Taehyun’s cockiness was sapped from him. Kamal was definitely scarier than he had initially seemed.

“I’ll show you.”

Kamal put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly, Taehyun wincing with the high pitch of the whistle. He didn’t even know that people could whistle that loudly.

“Y’know, you can’t tell anyone about this.” Kamal said quietly.

Taehyun opened his mouth to enquire further, but never got around to it. His eyes widened.

Something came fluttering out of the trees, and Kamal stretched his hand out. The creature came to rest gently on his hand.

Kamal looked up and jerked his head to the side, signalling for Taehyun to come over.

Not really knowing what he’d got himself into, the redhead walked over cautiously.

“Fairies don’t exist. Still believe that?” Kamal whispered.

Taehyun wanted to reply with a smug little comment, but he couldn’t deny what he saw.

It looked like a butterfly, but the wings were thin and lacy, streaked with soft shades of pink and blue.

And it wasn’t a butterfly’s body.

It was a human body.

The creature was too small to make out anything like facial features, but he could make out locks of soft hair, and a little dress decorated with ribbons. It raised a tiny arm and waved delicately at Taehyun.

It was undeniably a fairy. There was nothing else it could possibly be.

Taehyun’s face seemed to pale a little, and he sat down heavily on the floor. He watched in disbelief as Kamal whispered something to the fairy and it fluttered off, back into the trees.

“Believe me now?”

Taehyun rubbed his face.

“No, not really. I don’t really believe anything or anyone, at this point. I’m probably dreaming all of this. I’ll probably wake up in a minute in bed, thinking about what a crazy dream this has been. Yeah, that’s i-”

Kamal pinched Taehyun’s arm hard, and Taehyun shrieked loudly and pulled his arm away. “What the hell?”

Kamal’s eyes smiled. “They say to pinch your arm to check if you’re dreaming. Are you?”

Taehyun paused for a moment, staring into the depths of the forest. “I suppose not.” He sighed and rubbed his arm. “You didn’t have to pinch me _that_ hard, though.”

Kamal rolled his eyes. “So dramatic. I barely touched you.”

Taehyun noticed how the blond boy had become a hell of a lot more familiar and confident with the language after their conversations, and it occurred to him that, if that boy lived here in the forest, he must be pretty lonely.

“I’m not lonely,” Kamal said, frowning.

“What? How did you even know that I was-”

“You’re very easy to read, Kang Taehyun.”

Taehyun panicked for a second, wondering if Kamal was aware of how Taehyun had been lowkey falling for him.

Luckily he didn’t pick up on it. “You humans,” he carried on, “so pessimistic and self-centred. I’m not _lonely_. I live in the woods with all the woodland animals you could dream of and you call that lonely just because I’m deprived of human attention? You may not have noticed, but the world actually _doesn’t_ revolve around you.”

“Hey, I never said it _did_ revolve around us, I just-”

Taehyun stopped, and frowned. Kamal suddenly looked anxious, like he’d realised what he’d said and who he’d said it to, and was hoping that the redhead didn’t pick up on it.

But Taehyun decided to gather his braincells for the first time that day, and said, “What do you mean, _you humans?”_

“Nothing. I just meant.. us, people, in general. Everyone.”

“Who is everyone?” Taehyun mocked. At the silence from Kamal, he said, “Get it? Cos you said that earlier, so it’s ironic that I’m quoting you but for my benefi-”

“I get it.”

Taehyun cleared his throat awkwardly. “As I was saying. You’re acting real suspicious, and to be completely fair I wouldn’t be surprised if you turned out to be, like, an elf or something. Not that elves are real, but-”

Taehyun paused when he noticed how Kamal flinched slightly when he mentioned elves. He raised an eyebrow. “Something wrong?”

“No.” was the hasty response.

“God, you’re terrible at lying.”

“Speak for yourself.” Kamal said sourly.

“What do you mean?”

“ _Nothing._ God, you’re so pedantic.”

Taehyun rolled his eyes, not really knowing how to respond. “You didn’t even deny that you’re lying.”

“I’m not!”

“See, you _are_ lying, because any normal person would have asked by now what exactly I am accusing them of lying about, but _you_ immediately denied it, which means that you’re lying about something somewhere along the line and that you are keeping a secret from me.”

There was a brief silence and Kamal’s brow knotted. “What?”

“Reveal your secret right now.”

“What secret? I haven’t got one.”

“Good God, kid, you might be pretty but you can’t lie for shit.” Taehyun carried on quickly. “So what’s your secret? What are you? Human, elf, or what?”

Taehyun could practically see Kamal actively not reacting when he mentioned elves. I might be stupid, he thought, but damn, I can be smart sometimes.

“Get that smug look off your face or I’ll slap it off.” Kamal snapped, and Taehyun’s mouth immediately formed a straight line.

Kamal sighed. “You want to know what I am?”

He paused.

“I’m a-”

“Elf?” Taehyun interjected.

Kamal gave him such a murderous glare that Taehyun flinched a little.

“Shut up. Stop interrupting me.” Kamal seethed.

“And yes. I’m an _elf,_ as you so cleverly worked out."

“Oh, thank you, but it wasn’t that clever really, sometimes though I’m good at working these things ou-”

“I was being sarcastic.” Ice practically dripped from each word.

Taehyun swallowed nervously.

After a few seconds, his eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

Kamal sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. “You humans really are stupid. Yes, I’m an elf. Happy?”

“Really? You’re like.. an actual elf? An _actual_ elf? Like an _elf_ elf? A real-”

“Ask if I’m an elf one more time and I will hit you.”

Taehyun fell silent.

“I don’t believe you.” the redhead said slowly.

“You don’t believe me?” Kamal repeated.

“Yeah. I mean, no. I- you know what I mean.” Taehyun said, exasperated. “What I’m saying is, elves is just taking it to another level. They don’t exist. They _can’t_ exist.”

“Why not?”

Taehyun faltered. “I don’t know. They just...” he waved his hands somewhat pathetically, trying to emphasise his point. It didn’t work. “Y’know?”

“So you’ve seen a fairy firsthand, literally in front of your eyes, and you can’t handle an elf?”

“...Yeah.”

“Right.” Kamal paused. “So you want proof.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that, proof. Go on, then.”

“Ok. I’ll prove it to you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this isn’t a cliffhanger i just need to stop it somewhere otherwise the chapter will be too long so yeah
> 
> sorry this chapter makes lowkey no sense but hope you enjoyed anyways, ill try write the next one soon


	3. Kamal

Kamal stood up.

“Wait, quick question - do elves have the ears?” Taehyun asked eagerly.

“ _The ears?_ ” Kamal tutted slightly. “So charming. And yes, I do have _the ears_ , as you so kindly put it.”

Taehyun  crossed his legs and gazed up at him with sparkling eyes, like an expectant little schoolboy.

Kamal knelt down in front of him, angling his head to the side and pointing his head up. Taehyun tried not to stare at the way his jawline looked so defined and perfected his side profile, along with Kamal’s long eyelashes and elegantly shaped nose, and instead dragged his eyes to what the elf was showing him.

Kamal tucked his long locks behind his ears, having to do it a few times to get all the little curls out of the way, and showed Taehyun his ear.

Indeed, it was slightly larger than a normal ear, and instead of curving around along the top, it formed an elegant point.

“Woah,” Taehyun breathed. He reached out and touched the ear lightly, making sure it wasn’t a fake costume ear or something - admittedly not that he’d be able to get one in the middle of the woods - but it was the real thing. It couldn’t be fake.

Could it?

“Well,” Taehyun continued somewhat overenthusiastically, “do elves have wings? Like.. I’ve never really known but I may as well ask it now.”

Kamal hesitated.

“...Some elves do.”

“Do _you_ have them?”

Another pause. “Maybe.”

“So that’s a yes?”

“ ‘Maybe’ is a word that is fully open to interpretation and so it could mean whatever you want it to mean-”

“What I was looking for was more of a yes or a no.”

“Mm. I gathered that.” A sharp intake of air. “Then yes. I do.”

“Wait, you really have wings? Actual wings? Can I see th-”

The elf held up a hand for a silence and Taehyun closed his mouth.

“No. You can’t.”

Taehyun frowned like a puppy being told that it can’t have any biscuits. “Why not? I want to see them.”

“Because I said so and that’s that.”

“But do you have an actual reason other than ‘cos I said so’?”

“Yes, I do, and no, you’re not hearing it.”

“But-”

“Stop! With the ‘buts’ and the ‘whys’!” Kamal snapped. “You’re not seeing the wings because of reasons that are personal to me and that’s it. Maybe if you weren’t so persistent and irritating then I would show you, but unfortunately for _you_ you are both persistent and irritating and in great amounts, so no, you can’t see the wings.”

“Hey. I’m not irritating or persistent. Have some respect for your elders.”

“You don’t even know how old I am. I’m probably older than you anyway, judging by the substantial height difference.”

“Now that’s just a lie and an overexaggeration. You’re really not that much taller than m...”

Taehyun trailed off when Kamal stood up and walked over, right up close to him. The redhead was only as tall as the elf’s lower chest. Taehyun looked up nervously, somewhat thrown by the close proximity in which they stood, and swallowed.

“Ok. You’re taller than me - but that doesn’t mean that you’re older than me. How old are you?”

“18.” Kamal said, moving back a little, having finished proving his point.

“What month were you born in?”

“August.”

“So I’m older than you. I was born in February. Although.. I don’t get why you’re so tall. I thought elves were like..” he held his hand up to his waist. “..this tall. Tiny. Not as tall as you.”

Kamal frowned. “No.”

“Oh.”

“Most elves are your height, maybe a little bit shorter. My family was always tall, though. Just runs in the blood, I guess.”

“You have family?”

There was a silence, the sort of silence that immediately makes you wish that you could go back and unsay it.

“Not any more.”

Taehyun stayed quiet for a few moments, and then whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok. I lost them years ago, it doesn’t matter any more.”

It was astonishing how suddenly the mood could drop.

Kamal looked up then, and looked Taehyun in the eye.

“You really want to see my wings?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, you don’t have to, it was only a small thing, you really don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable-”

The elf rolled his eyes. “You didn’t care about that a few minutes ago.”

He stood up and so did Taehyun.

“I can show you. I warn you, though. It’s not nice.”

He pulled the shawl off his shoulders, laying it gently on the ground, and now he was just wearing the one shouldered robe. He turned around so he had his back to Taehyun, and he shrugged the robe off his shoulder and held it around his waist so only his wide back was exposed.

Taehyun stared at the wings, wide-eyed, his face pale.

“So that’s why you didn’t want to show me.” he whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter is so short but y’know wanted to leave it at that point before going to the next chapter <3


End file.
